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Bob, I LOVE the original picture in your Avatar because it is the earliest illustration I know of that shows using a sling for support in offhand shooting. It is not quite what we Marines call a "hasty sling," but it is close. May I ask where you got that illustration? Gus

I second that of course, but what I wrote came from my own personal experience. Gus

Oh, should have said that lots and lots of dry firing with a wood dummy flint will cause your wobble area to get as small as possible. It should also show you errors we all make. Gus

1. Establish your natural point of aim before firing a shot. Verify it before firing additional shots. 2. Concentrate on perfect sight alignment while smoothly pressing the trigger and continue to concentrate on perfect sight alignment "till the bullet passes through the target." (You...

But isn't Lamp Black the new "Skin So Soft" for hands? Please, do NOT tell that to a Redhead! LOL (I know this because before I turned gray, I was one.) Seriously, I can see Maria's focus and determination in so many of the pics you provide and I highly respect that and the work she is...

I also like to use the smallest size nail set I grind down so the diameter is smaller than the pin. The idea is just to get the pin moving below the surface of the stock, then it's time to use longer punches. I save bent/broken punches and cut them shorter with a cutting disc to use next...

If Maria is going for a bachelor's degree in History, could she do her Master's thesis on the build? Gus

This post is dedicated in part to forum member Coot. Oh, the center bit for boring wood MAY have come as an improvement on bone button boring tools that were used throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Below is one more crude than normally used in the civilian trade, but these are difficult...

Hi Rich, The three bits on the left are center bits and they are seen in Diderot's Encyclopedie of the 1750's. These quickly became the bits of choice for boring numerous straight holes close by each other in the factory shops of Europe, though they were also seen in some of our major cities...

Rich, I apologize for again going off topic, but since today the cartridge blocks are often drilled by drill presses, there may be a questions on how far back drill presses go and would they have been used in the period? Drill Presses as we know them were known as Blacksmith's or Post Drills...

Hi Bud, In the period, they almost exclusively used a brace and center bit to drill the holes. Below is the cutting part or front of a center bit. The following link shows how this was done, for those who aren't familiar with period bits...

Rich, Folks back then and today didn't do everything the same and folks made mistakes back then just as today. If I had done this, I would just say it was the first block I made on Monday morning without enough coffee, after suffering through a hangover in the 4 to 6 hour sermon in church the...

As a "Militia" Cartouche Box, who cares? You are going to really, Really, REALLY appreciate your good sense in making a CURVED block once you wear it. Take this from someone who wore the straight front and back British Cartouche Box and you really have to tighten them on your belly or they...

American Cartouche Boxes: British Cartouche Boxes: Gus

More on supposedly "brass" frame reproductions of Colts and I will add other repro revolvers with supposedly "brass" frames. 2 pages ago in post 73, I wrote "Forget the bronze frame Colts, which in no way are representative of the original design," During the UnCivil War, the South not only...

Indeed. The angle of the rake of the top revolver is what I ran into and didn't like. Gus

Hi Richard, Neat information. Thank you. I'm sorry I was never much into photography, so I don't have a photo of the Kerr and holster I owned. I looked online at some originals to try to spark my memory of the one I owned. I do remember it never had a lanyard ring on the bottom of the grip...

This was the rather delightful challenge I had in the early 1980's when I was looking to add a revolver to my "personal arsenal" as a Confederate Partisan Ranger/Scout (on foot) and shortly afterwards as a reenactor Confederate Officer of Infantry. I quickly ruled out Walkers and Dragoons as...

Hi Mike, Thank you for the kind words. Technically, the correct term is not "blow up," but rather would be a catastrophic failure. If the barrel was hardened and annealed, under the stress of the bullet hitting the forcing cone, it would either shatter a piece or pieces off the forcing cone...

I did the majority of my gunsmithing work on repro and original UnCivil War guns in well over half to almost 2/3's of the N-SSA National Championship shoots from the Spring of 1974 to the Fall of 2005; when the Marine Corps didn't send me somewhere else in my regular job of an RTE or NM Armorer...